Dutch media names prime suspects in MH17 air crash

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 9:00:49 PM

The Dutch independent journalist research portal Zembla has disclosed the names of the prime suspects in the case concerning the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 which was shot down over the Donbas in 2014 while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Radio Liberty reports.

The article notes that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has identified a group of seven people who were complicit in the crash. The list includes the names of the Russian mercenaries Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, Sergey Dubinsky and Nikolai Tkachev.

The article relies on information from Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, who was head of the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) at the time of the crash, and former SBU chief investigator Vasyl Vovk.

The SBU provided the investigation with a lot of material, including 150,000 recordings of intercepted phone calls.

The Dutch news outlet points out that the Joint Investigation Team has decided not to focus on who was operating the Russian Buk missile system, but rather on who led the armed revolt in the Donbas and played a decisive role in the Buk systems being brought in from Russia.

Zembla states that the Public Investigation Service of the Netherlands cannot yet make any statements concerning its suspects, because the investigation is still in its active phase.

298 people were killed as a result of the MH17 crash on July 17, 2014.